Bounty and Benevolence draws on a wide range of documentary sources to provide a rich and complex interpretation of the process that led to these historic agreements. The authors explain the changing economic and political realities of western Canada during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and show how the Saskatchewan treaties were shaped by long-standing diplomatic and economic understandings between First Nations and the Hudson's Bay Company.

Bounty and Benevolence also illustrates how these same forces created some of the misunderstandings and disputes that arose between the First Nations and government officials regarding the interpretation and implementation of the accords.

"A much-needed account of the Native side of the treaty process ... This book will take its place amid a growing body of academic literature that provides a fuller understanding of Native/white relations in Canada." The Star Phoenix"Its extensive examination of the knowledge which Indian people in Saskatchewan had acquired of early treaty negotiations ... and the utilization of it by Indian leaders in negotiations is unique ... an eye opener." Roger Carter, Native Law Centre, University of Saskatchewan

Arthur J. Ray is a professor of history at the University of British Columbia.

Jim Miller is a professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan.

Frank Tough is the director of the School of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.